Line #40 Webcomic/BlurTheLines


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	[[quoteright:279:[[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=245 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blur_the_lines_panel_7675.jpg]]]]
4	[[caption-width-right:279:The most normal panel in the whole strip... seriously.]]
5	->''[[{{Tagline}} ...Because "normal" is so "gay."]]''
6
7	''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20100608114638/http://www.blur-the-lines.com Blur the Lines]]'' was a webcomic written by Bob Kusiak which uses the escapades of its two gay male protagonists, Rick and Drew (who are partners), to comment on popular culture, contemporary politics, and the dynamics of gay sexuality. According to the author, many of the situations in the comic are inspired by actual conversations he has with his real-life partner. Each comic was accompanied with a blog entry by the author about the train of thought that led to the comic's creation, his thoughts on recent events, messages to his readership, stories about his life, and other such things. The comic started in October 2009 and has grown in popularity thanks to links from other like-minded sites.
8
9	The element of gay chubby chasing is a big theme of ''Blur the Lines''. Rick is a ChubbyChaser, Drew is a chub, and Kusiak is an unabashed chubby chaser himself, making ''Blur the Lines'' a clear case of AuthorAppeal. Even when the "[[BigBeautifulMan more to love]]" demographic is not the subject of a strip, there is almost always a chubby character included. If you don't share Kusiak's taste in men, expect quite a few {{Squick}} moments from this comic strip. Even if you do share Kusiak's taste in men, the comic is decidedly NotSafeForWork and may evoke a {{Squick}} reaction in you, anyways.
10	----
11	!!Tropes used by this webcomic:
12
13	* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Though Rick and Drew are partners, they frequently seek out sex with other men. They are also both ok with the other's promiscuity, leading to a MyGirlIsASlut scenario.
14	** {{Subverted\|Trope}} when Rick refuses to feel up a guy because [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=371 he thinks the man's bitter ex-boyfriend may be watching them.]]
15	* AllMenArePerverts: Crossed with TheInternetIsForPorn here [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=2024]].
16	-->"I was just helping give the group a nudge towards inevitability.. with my penis."
17	* {{Angrish}}: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=493]]
18	--> Jesus... Fuck! I... people... can't... fuck!
19	--> Wife... ass... video... fuck... Bad! Bad!
20	--> Graaa!
21	** NoBisexuals: Not in the comic itself (which is more about the creepiness of [[YaoiFangirl Yaoi Fangirls]]), but the accompanying blog entry makes it pretty clear that the author (and the commenters) thinks bisexual men don't exist, and therefore all "straight" men who ask gay guys for a hook-up despite having a girlfriend must really be gay and deep in the closet and/or just be in their hetero relationships to have babies.
22	%%* AuthorAppeal: As explained above.
23	* AuthorAvatar: Though Rick and Drew resemble the author and his boyfriend, respectively, the author and his boyfriend ''themselves'' make an appearance in [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=470 the 100th comic]].
24	* BatmanGambit: Rick is very good at luring overweight straight men into sexual encounters without making them realize he is doing so, such as when he convinced a straight man to give him oral sex to get back at his girlfriend [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=140]], or when he [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=287 bet a man at PAX that he couldn't roll four evens out of ten.]] (For losing that bet, Rick had to give oral sex to every fat man in the room.)
25	%%* TheBear
26	* BigBeautifulMan: Many of the male characters fit this trope, for reasons already mentioned.
27	* BrainBleach: Drew asks for this after Rick explains [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=393 the difference between under armor and spandex.]]
28	** He also screams for this after Rick [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=91 ruins food for him]].
29	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Rick is kicked out of a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' round because he keeps trying to "bluff" his way into the pants of his fellow players; [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=216 he thinks they kicked him out just because he's gay.]]
30	%%* CulturalStereotypes: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=159 The rural poor.]]
31	%%** Used again [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=309 here]].
32	* DespairEventHorizon: The male escort goes beyond it when he realizes that if he wants to earn money by being "gay for pay," he needs to actually [[spoiler:be gay.]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=95]]
33	%%* DoubleEntendre: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=202 About snow, no less.]]
34	* EvenTheGuysWantHim: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=56 Even Rick's hapless straight friend would go for]] Creator/BradPitt.
35	* {{Fanservice}}: Especially the following strips: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=5 Under Construction]], [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=275 Limp Wrists]], and [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=577 Skills to Pay the Bills]]
36	** Warning: The more a strip becomes {{Fanservice}} for people who share Kusiak's taste in men, the more it becomes {{Squick}} for people who don't. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.
37	** As well as [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=287 the photos Kusiak took at PAX]].
38	** And the photos Kusiak took at a Motor City Pride event, especially those of [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=408 the bear car wash.]]
39	** Also, Rick accuses Literature/TheHobbit of doing Fanservice by continuously describing how fat Bombur is. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=245]]
40	* GRatedDrug: Rick's reaction to eating [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=206 a whole box of chocolate covered espresso beans]].
41	* GagPenis: The [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=118 mannequin's bulge]].
42	--> '''Rick:''' ...It's the dead of winter, his package shouldn't be nearly so pronounced...
43	* GoodAngelBadAngel: Subverted in that the good angel and bad angel eventually agree that taking both of their suggestions would be the best thing to do. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=335]]
44	%%* AGoodNameForARockBand: The hardcore fuck-metal band "[[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=448 Poop-Dick]]".
45	* HypocriticalHumor: Rick joined [=BeautifulPeople=].com just to "fuck with pretty people" and [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=133 is then offended when his profile is deleted because he put on weight.]]
46	* KingOfAllCosmos: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=502 God]] is a [[TheBear a rugged, burly, usually very hairy gay guy]].
47	* LeatherMan: The [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=80 BSDM leather daddy]] and the [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=254 biker]].
48	* LifeEmbellished: As was mentioned, the author claims that many of the comics are based on conversations he has with his real-life partner, and Rick and Drew resemble the author and his boyfriend, as was made clear when the author and his boyfriend make an appearance in [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=470 the 100th comic]].
49	* MacGyvering: Rick makes a fleshlight out of an empty can and some ground chuck (meat). [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=45]]
50	* MarilynManeuver: The kilt-wearing man [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=258 performs one of these involuntarily]].
51	%%* MeaningfulName: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=380 Jhizrag, Kumguzzle, and Arsenuzzle.]]
52	* MyGirlIsASlut: Rick and Drew openly discuss their sexual escapades with each other, even though they have been partners for ten years.
53	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=23 They are also erotic]].
54	* PornWithoutPlot: {{Convers\|ationalTroping}}ed, then {{discussed\|Trope}}. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=176]]
55	--> '''Rick:''' Porno could be so much more in the right hands... but it's mainly just, "Whoops, wrong door! Let's fuck!"
56	--> '''Drew:''' How about we make our own porn? Want to lick this spoon clean, or lick it off of me?
57	--> '''Rick:''' So, this would be a porn where I'm picking body hair out of my teeth for a half-hour? [[SarcasmMode Yeah, there's a plot.]]
58	* PornWithPlot: Rick's plan to make an X-Tube video that is also a social commentary on the BP oil spill. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=384]]
59	* {{Pun}}
60	** [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=65 The potential names of Rick's superhero persona]].
61	** There's also the conversation between the dildo and the fleshlight. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=249 Seriously]].
62	** As well as [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=254 the pick-up line]] the biker tries to use on Rick.
63	** [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=322 Bowels of hell.]]
64	** [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=388 Honorable discharge.]]
65	%%* RedOniBlueOni: Rick and Drew.
66	* RefugeInAudacity: If that isn't abundantly clear by now, then you haven't actually been reading the examples, have you?
67	* SecretIdentityChangeTrick: {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=309]]
68	--> '''Drew:''' What the fuck?! How did you change that fast?!
69	* SeinfeldianConversation: {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=127]].
70	--> '''Rick:''' Is this like a "Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' monologue, or do you expect an answer?
71	* ShoutOut: "[[MemeticMutation I've had it with the mother-fucking fatties]] [[Film/SnakesOnAPlane on this mother-fucking plane!"]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=211]]
72	%%* SliceOfLife
73	* StraightGay: Both of the main characters fit this trope, as do most of the other gay characters in the comic.
74	** {{Parodied\|Trope}} when Drew mocks Rick for asking his mother for a flannel shirt for Christmas. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=107]]
75	** {{Discussed\|Trope}}, then {{deconstruct\|ion}}ed when Drew considers whether he should check himself off as "Straight Acting" on a dating site, thinks of what his heterosexual friends are like, and decides against it. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=147 Turns out that even straight people can be decidedly un-straight acting]].
76	--> '''Rick:''' I wonder if on straight dating sites they have a "gay acting" check-box...
77	%%* StripperCopConfusion: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=365]]
78	* TimeStandsStill: Rick accidentally stops time and uses the opportunity to get... intimate with a friend of his. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=62]]
79	* TooKinkyToTorture: {{Subverted\|Trope}} before Rick beats up a man with a homophobic bumper sticker on his car. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170909113255/http://www.blur-the-lines.com/?p=159]]
80	--> '''Rick:''' Thank God, because this would feel a lot more dirty if I thought you were enjoying it...

Context Webcomic / BlurTheLines